[Westheim]

Raccoons (4-4) vs. Crusaders (2-7) – April 13-16, 2051

The Crusaders had started out 2-0, and had since not won even a consolation place, crashing into last place in the division. They were not scoring at all, with just 24 runs from nine games, while their pitching was solid, fifth in runs allowed, but “solid” was not going to rescue a 2.7 R/G offense. The Raccoons had lost the season series last year, taking only six games.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Carlos Malla (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
Danny Hall (0-1, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jim White (1-1, 5.25 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (2-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (1-1, 0.55 ERA)
Victor Salcido (0-1, 5.91 ERA) vs. Edwin Sopena (0-2, 5.73 ERA)

Malla proved to us that, yes, left-handed starting pitchers do exist – but he’d also be the only one coming up this week.

Game 1
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Russ – LF D. Rivera – 3B Gates – C O. Ramirez – 1B Haertling – CF M. Ceballos – RF Garris – P Malla
POR: CF Tortora – SS Lavorano – 1B J. Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Crum – C Gonzalez – 3B Kaufman – RF Glodowski – P Brobeck

The series started with a 3-2 single by Omar Sanchez, who stole second, a walk to Andrew Russ (gnashes teeth), a wild pitch, and from 0-2, another walk to Danny Rivera. Prince Gates scored a run with a fielder’s choice, and Omar Ramirez hit into a double play to limit the actual damage to one run, but … oh boy. While Tortora drew a leadoff walk, Lonzo spanked a ball at Sanchez for a double play, just before senior citizen Jesus Maldonado could lift his first homer of the season. Mario Ceballos and Brian Kaufman sponsored double plays in the second inning, with Kaufman now a crisp 0-for-11 to begin his Coons tenure. Brobeck bunted into a force at second in the bottom 3rd, erasing Glodowski’s leadoff walk, but, hey, upsides – no double play! (groans)

The Coons *did* take a 2-1 lead in the bottom 4th on another solo homer, this time by Matt Waters. Brobeck meanwhile calmed himself down for a while and a had a few nice innings before Omar Sanchez whacked a leadoff single in the sixth and stole second. Andrew Russ (hiss!) walked, but Prince Gates found another double play to kill the inning. There was a Maldo double in the bottom 6th that went nowhere nice, and Kaufman led off the seventh with a bloop double that Josh Garris misplayed from what should have been his 0-for-13. Glodowski singled past Omar Sanchez, and the Coons were on the corners with nobody out. They also had one of the better-hitting pitchers in the league at the plate, although Brobeck was almost at 100 pitches. Earlier in the game – yeah, whack away. But now, Malla was already out of the game, and right-hander Jeff Frank begged for a bench piece. Pucks grabbed a stick, and hit the first of three absolutely pathetic groundouts in a row, none of which got Kaufman home from third base.

After Sencion and Willie Maldonado held the Crusaders one run down in the top 8th, the bottom 8th began with Jesus Maldonado, lashing a zinger up the rightfield line, where it bounced fair, hit the sidewall, and then rushed gigglingly into the gap, hotly pursued by an unlucky Josh Garris. Maldo legged out a triple, which put him a single short of the cycle. Matt Waters wasn’t taking chances, crushed a 2-run homer to right, and handed off a 3-run lead to Willie Cruz, who brought back a 2-run win when it was all said and done, courtesy of an Angel Lara homer, pinch-hit with two outs. 4-2 Coons. J. Maldonado 3-4, HR, 3B, 2B, RBI; Waters 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Glodowski 1-2, BB; Brobeck 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, W (1-1);

Game 2
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Russ – LF D. Rivera – 3B Gates – CF P. Leal – C O. Ramirez – 1B Haertling – RF Mills – P J. White
POR: CF Tortora – SS Lavorano – 1B J. Maldonado – LF Crum – RF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – 2B Kaufman – C Jimenez – P Hall

Maldo kept raking, doubling home Lonzo with a drive to deep center in the first inning; Lonzo had also hit a double, but to the left side. Crum and Pucks left Maldo stranded, with Matt Waters getting a scheduled day off (Lonzo was pencilled in for tomorrow, despite an off day on Monday). Prince Gates erased the lead with a leadoff jack in the top 2nd, but Danny Hall drove home the go-ahead run himself in the bottom 2nd, cashing Brian Kaufman from second base with a 2-out single to right, 2-1! His pitching was not nearly as clutch, though, and he gave up the lead again at the first opportunity, offering a leadoff walk to Ken Mills in the third, and with a single by Sanchez and a Russ sac fly (growls!) the Crusaders tied it up at two. Portland answered with two immediately: doubles by Maldo (!) and Crum, singles by Crispin and Kaufman, and Juan Jimenez popping out to strand two on the corners in a 4-2 game.

However… Hall was just ****. The Crusaders opened the fourth inning with straight clean singles, and while Ed Haertling initially popped out with three on and nobody out, a bases-loaded walk to Mills and a 2-run single by White flipped the score to 5-4 New York. He dragged his sorry bum through six innings, but remained on the hook, with the Raccoons’ sticks now apparently empty. The Coons didn’t get another runner into scoring position until the bottom 8th, which Ken Crum opened with a double to left. Pucks grounded out, Crispin struck out, Kaufman lined out, and the tying run was stranded at third base. While Synder and Ponce provided three innings of scoreless relief, the Raccoons arrived in the bottom 9th to see Melvin Lucero, and still down by a run. Mikio Suzuki batted for Jimenez to begin the inning and was drilled right away. Van Hoy batted for Ponce, and in case you wondered where Waters was, he had already pinch-hit for Hall earlier with Kaufman on first in the bottom 6th, whiffing to end the inning, so he already had a cold one and his hindpaws up. Van Hoy grounded out to Russ, but at least Suzuki advanced, as he did when Tortora advanced. Lonzo flew out to Mario Ceballos, resulting in the tying run being stranded at third base *again*. 5-4 Crusaders. J. Maldonado 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Crum 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Kaufman 3-4, 2B, RBI;

Six doubles, no cigar in the game.

Game 3
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Russ – LF D. Rivera – 3B Gates – C O. Ramirez – CF P. Leal – RF M. Ceballos – 1B Haertling – P J. Johnson
POR: RF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Crum – C Gonzalez – CF Suzuki – SS Kaufman – P Wheatley

Pucks, Crum, and Gonzalez all hit singles in the bottom 1st, with Waters adding a walk, and the 5-6 hitters both drove home a run for a quick 2-0 lead against Johnson. Wheats had a shaky first two innings, each time putting a New Yorker on third base, but they never scored… at least until Matt Waters put on Omar Sanchez with a 2-base throwing error in the third inning and Danny Rivera singled him home. In the fourth, Pedro Leal whacked a leadoff double to left, but again, if not sabotaged by his own team, Wheats allowed them to third base, and no further! Not that he was in peak form in his third start of the year, either, sitting on only two strikeouts through four innings.

And then the rest of my house of cards of “oh it’s all fine and just barely half bad” came crashing down in the fifth inning. Leadoff walk to Sanchez, Rivera drew a walk, and with two outs, Omar Ramirez singled in the tying run. Leal’s infield single filled the bases, but Mario Ceballos was out to Kaufman to strand three. And where were the Raccoons the whole ******* time? (expressively shrugs)

Wheats held a tie through six innings, which took him over 100 pitches, with the Raccoons offense remaining completely absent ever since the first inning – they had only two base knocks in the five innings after that. More trouble in the seventh, in which Eloy Sencion loaded the bases with PH Art Bent (double), Gates (walk), and Ramirez (single) before getting a nice comebacker from Leal for a 1-2-3 double play, then got Ceballos to float out to Puckeridge in right. Pucks led off the bottom 8th after a scoreless appearance by Paul Miles against the 8-9-1 batters, and out of the blue nothing socked a go-ahead homer to left-center, his first of the year. And that was all it took. Three Coons went down after this, and Willie Cruz did the same to the Crusaders’ Russ, Lara, and Gates. 3-2 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4, HR, RBI; Crum 2-3, RBI;

A win’s a win’s a win…

But I am already starting to not like our infield setup. Only four guys really for the three spots left of first base. Some tweaking might be required.

Game 4
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Russ – LF D. Rivera – C O. Ramirez – CF P. Leal – RF Garris – 3B Bent – 1B Haertling – P Sopena
POR: CF Tortora – SS Lavorano – 1B J. Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Crum – RF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – P Salcido

Salcido hit a double in the bottom 2nd with two outs and Gonzalez on first, but it didn’t amount to a run. Leal cut off the ball before it could reach the warning track, Gonzalez had to throw the anchor at third base, and Tortora struck out. In turn, Salcido offered leadoff walks to Art Bent and Ed Haertling in the top 3rd, and gave up both runs after a Sopena bunt and Sanchez single. It didn’t get much better from there. Ramirez singled and Leal homered off Salcido in the fourth, 4-0, and Tortora hurt himself on a defensive play in the same inning, requiring replacement by Suzuki. The Coons meanwhile just couldn’t score – Crispin hit a 2-out triple in the bottom 4th, but with nobody on and Gonzalez wouldn’t drive him in, either. Through four, we were up 6-4 in hits, and down 4-0 in runs…

Two more singles were added with one out in the bottom 5th by Suzuki and Lonzo, but Maldo’s liner to right was snagged by Garris. Waters walked, bringing up Crum as the tying run with two gone, but he hit the 0-1 pitch down, not up. It still went through the right side for a 2-run single, but Pucks then grounded out to first base to strand the tying runs. New York recovered a run right away, as Salcido got no outs in the sixth before getting yanked for Ponce, who surrendered a run on a Leal sac fly, and the inning after Snyder and Miles exploded for three more runs as the Crusaders firmly marked a series split in their books. Ed Crispin hit a stray homer in the bottom 8th. That was that. 8-3 Crusaders. Suzuki 1-2, BB; Maldonado 2-5; Crum 3-5, 2 RBI; Crispin 2-4, BB, 3B, 2B; Van Hoy (PH) 1-1;

Monday was then off, and by Tuesday, the Raccoons scratched Cullen Tortora, probably for the balance of the season, with a tear in his labrum that needed stapling, or whatever the current state of technology was. Dr. Padilla, I saw something on TV on that Star Trail show, where they take what looks like a flashlight and just shine on the spot, and that … – That doesn’t work here? – Bummer.

Tortora, batting .179 with 2 RBI at the time of his demise, he was replaced with Mitch Sivertson, who had gotten off to a .407 start in AAA this year and could play corner outfield as well.

Raccoons (6-6) @ Canadiens (7-5) – April 18-20, 2051

The team then went north, where the damn Elks were up to a shaky start, ninth in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed, with a -3 run differential (Coons: zip). They were probably going to rally, and I hoped they wouldn’t do it before the weekend, because all those mean tools they had on the roster last year? Mostly still there. And Jerry Outram was hitting .375 again, too. The Coons had lost 12 of 18 games to the damn Elks for two years in a row.

Projected matchups:
Bubba Wolinsky (1-1, 2.63 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (2-0, 4.11 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (1-1, 2.77 ERA) vs. Danny Orozco (1-0, 3.14 ERA)
Danny Hall (0-2, 5.87 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (1-1, 3.00 ERA)

Might be two southpaws from them to open this series.

Game 1
POR: SS Lavorano – 3B Kaufman – 1B J. Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Crum – RF Glodowski – C Gonzalez – CF Suzuki – P Wolinsky
VAN: CF Escobido – LF T. Turner – 3B Burgos – 1B Toohey – C Julio Diaz – SS Mullen – RF Tomasello – 2B DeMarco – P McMichael

The Elks went up 1-0 in the first on … basically nothing. Wolinsky snapped a fastball into Angel Escobido’s belt buckle, which led to some displays of physical discomfort, but Escobido eventually crawled to first base, advanced on a pair of wild pitches, and eventually scored on Jesus Burgos’ sac fly. McMichael however lasted only four outs before leaving with an injury, righty Anton Jesus taking over, which made me even less confident about our lineup. And it wasn’t even the lineup that buried the Raccoons in the third inning. A throwing error by Kaufman, three singles, another wild pitch, and the damn Elks put up a 4-spot, with Angel Escobido driving home two, former Critter Bryce Toohey singling home one run, and the fourth came around on Wolinsky’s third wild pitch of the game. All runs were unearned. What a relief.

…and we had yet to talk about the non-offense, which didn’t get a hit until the fifth inning, but then got two singles at once from Ken Crum and Mikio Suzuki, the latter singling home the former, to rally all the way to 5-1, and no damn further. For the balance of the game, that was. The Raccoons had only one more hit, a pinch-hit single by new arrival Mitch Sivertson that opened the ninth inning. Sivertson also ended the game by getting caught stealing. 5-1 Canadiens. Sivertson (PH) 1-1; Suzuki 1-2, BB, RBI;

Each team had three hits in this game. (waves arms) Somehow. (looks at Honeypaws looking for an explanation, but none was forthcoming)

Game 2
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B J. Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Crum – RF Glodowski – 3B Sivertson – C Jimenez – P Brobeck
VAN: SS Mullen – CF Tomasello – 1B Toohey – RF Outram – 3B Burgos – C Julio Diaz – LF Escobido – 2B DeMarco – P Orozco

Alan Puckeridge hit a single in the first inning, which led nowhere once again, and that was it for hits in the game for the next hour. Brobeck got through the innings, but with a quickly building pitch count, while the Raccoons made excessive weak contact, or when they did reach base on a walk like Waters in the fourth, where caught stealing. A 1-out single by Escobido in the bottom 5th was the first H for either team after Pucks’ single, but he was left on by Nick DeMarco and Orozco.

Brobeck, amped up after five shutout innings, then opened the sixth by slicing a triple into the left-center gap. I would muse thoughts about the young Jonny Toner, if Brobeck’s pitching was even remotely up to snuff. And yes – Brobeck might be stealing a base here or there, eventually. Not home, though, in a scoreless ballgame… For reasons best known to them, the Elks walked Lonzo to get to Pucks, but Pucks singled to shallow right-center, where an array of Elks defenders got into each other’s antlers, conceding not only the run, but also allowing both back runners into scoring position. I then groaned loudly back home in Portland as Maldo hit a comebacker for no gains, Waters struck out for no gains, and then Ken Crum ran a full count before FINALLY singling through the left side to get the two runners home, 3-0. Glodowski grounded out to end the inning.

We were back with runners on second and third and no outs in the seventh, though. Sivertson singled, Juan Jimenez hit a double to center, and Brobeck then dropped a dying quail in front of Outram for an RBI single, and on a 1-2 pitch! Lonzo added an RBI single to center, and Orozco disappeared after walking Puckeridge to load the bases. Maldo hit a sac fly, Waters popped out, and Crum hit another RBI single, 7-0. Glodowski grounded out to end yet another inning.

And Brobeck? Stumbled to allow two walks in the bottom 6th, which dragged on despite only four batters coming to the plate, the last of which, Escobido, chopped into a 5-4-3 double play to take the scare off. Brobeck got one more out from DeMarco in the eighth, then was lifted with Giampaolo Petroni pinch-hitting from the wrong side. He had thrown 105 pitches. Sencion threw 16 more to get out of the inning, with Pucks’ error putting Petroni on base. Dan Mullen singled and sent the lead runner to third base, but Tyler Tomasello flew out to Glodowski, who threw out Petroni at the plate for a 9-2 double play. Willie Maldonado then croaked in the bottom 9th, filling the bags with walks to Toohey and Outram plus a Jesus Burgos single. Out with him, in with Ponce against Julio Diaz, who chopped into a double play, with Toohey scoring. Escobido struck out to end the game. 7-1 Raccoons! Puckeridge 2-4, BB, RBI; Crum 2-4, 3 RBI; Jimenez 2-4, 2B; Brobeck 7.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K, W (2-1) and 2-3, 3B, RBI;

Yeeeah, yeeeah, Honeypaws, yeah, I can see some young Jonny Toner in that final line for Brobeck.

No, I won’t call him Bro. I have standards.

Fine, Honeypaws, I’ll call him Bro when he wins the Pitcher of the Year scepter.

The Elks had three hits for the second straight game, this time even in a loss. They also made a change for the rubber game, sending right-handed Terry Herman (1-2, 6.88 ERA) instead.

Game 3
POR: SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – LF Crum – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – C Gonzalez – CF Suzuki – 1B Van Hoy - P Hall
VAN: CF Escobido – LF T. Turner – 3B Burgos – 1B Toohey – C Julio Diaz – SS Mullen – RF Tomasello – 2B DeMarco – P Herman

On Thursday, the Elks had three hits before they made a fourth out, but also stranded three runners against Danny Hall and didn’t score the first time through, with Herman rung up with runners on the corners to end the bottom 2nd. And then Angel Escobido and Tim Turner raked back-to-back bombs to begin the bottom 3rd, 2-0 Elks…

Hall wouldn’t see the end of the fifth, departing with Burgos and Toohey on the corners and one out in a 3-2 game. Escobido had doubled home a run in the fourth, but a Suzuki homer, a Hall single, and a Lonzo RBI double had made up two runs for Portland in the top of the fifth. But Hall’s pitching woes didn’t stop, and he was yanked after 87 pitches for just 13 outs. Hitchcock couldn’t keep Burgos on base, surrendering the run on Dan Mullen’s sac fly to right, and it was 4-2 Elks through five. And while the Raccoons couldn’t get unglued, the Snyder/Miles combo gave up another run in the seventh inning.

The tying run actually came to the plate in the eighth inning, but with two outs after a Crum single and Waters walking. Crispin softly looped out to second baseman Jorge Uranga off Ruben Mendez. The Elks tacked on a run, though, on a single off Miles and errors by Crispin and Van Hoy… The Coons continued to have no sensible answers, and lost. 6-2 Canadiens. Suzuki 2-4, HR, RBI;

Raccoons (7-8) @ Condors (9-7) – April 21-23, 2051

The Condors were third in the South, but further out than the Raccoons were in their own division (two games at this point). The Condors were second in runs scored, but eighth in runs allowed. They had the third-highest batting average in the CL, but were in the bottom quarter in home runs so far. The Coons had won this series for six years running, 5-4 in 2050.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (2-0, 1.77 ERA) vs. Garrett Giustino (1-0, 6.55 ERA)
Victor Salcido (0-2, 6.89 ERA) vs. Aaron Erwin (0-1, 5.14 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (1-2, 2.29 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (2-1, 4.88 ERA)

Only righty pitchers scheduled to appear for the Condors on this weekend.

Game 1
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Suzuki – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Crum – RF Puckeridge – C Gonzalez – 3B Crispin – P Wheatley
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 1B G. Cabrera – 2B Whitehurst – 3B Riario – CF Ransford – P Giustino

A Maldo single and a Waters triple gave the Coons a quick 1-0 lead, but Ken Crum flew out to Dustin Ransford to leave Waters on third base. Ransford was the only lefty hitter in the lineup that came up to face Wheatley, which made me dangerously confident in my box. Of course, the Raccoons croaked on another chance in the second, where Gonzalez singled and Crispin doubled with one out, but Wheats whiffed and Lonzo grounded out. Wheats then gave up the lead on a Gil Cabrera triple and a Nathan Whitehurst single in the bottom of the same inning.

A Suzuki homer made it 2-1 in the third, but the Coons also got to 3-for-3 in ending the inning with a runner on third base, this time Waters again, reaching on a soft single and advancing on a grounder and a wild pitch before being left on when Pucks flew out to Ransford. Crispin reached third base in the fourth inning on a single, stolen base, and deep fly to right by Wheats that was caught by Brian Blackburn. Lonzo dutifully grounded out. Pucks came up with Suzuki (single) and Crum (fielder’s choice) on the corners and two outs in the fifth, and grounded out to Cabrera. It was borderline ridiculous. At this stage, the 7-8-9 hitters disappearing in order in the sixth was ALMOST welcome. ALMOST. Jon Mittleider almost homered the game tied in the bottom 6th, but was retried by Pucks at the fence, but Vittorio Riario did the actual honors in the bottom 7th, hitting a belter to left that went well over the fence to level the score at two. That was also Wheats’ last inning.

He did get another lead, though, posthumously attained by Waters singling, stealing a base, and scoring on a Puckeridge sac fly in the eighth inning, 3-2. The eighth inning went to Hitchcock then, who walked Mittleider, but pulled through, and the ninth went – with no add-on cushion – to Willie Cruz. Whitehurst struck out. Danny Diaz grounded out to Van Hoy at first base, there for defense. Ransford singled to right, but Ryan Robbinson bounced out to Crispin to end the game. 3-2 Blighters. Suzuki 2-4, HR, RBI; Waters 3-4, 3B, RBI; Crispin 2-4, 2B; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (3-0);

Still .500, but almost last in runs scored now…

Game 2
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Suzuki – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Crum – RF Puckeridge – C Gonzalez – 3B Crispin – P Salcido
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 1B G. Cabrera – 3B Riario – 2B C. Lara – CF Lamotta – P Erwin

Salcido had scuffled in his first few starts AND now faced a lineup without a left-handed batter, so I was naturally worried. So of course he sat down the Condors in order the first time through, striking out four, because baseball made no sense. The Raccoons’ offense remained quadriplegic, refusing to move on its own, with only two hits for the team in the first four innings, and nobody even getting stranded at third base.

The Condors were 12 up, 12 down through four, and Salcido then laid down a beauty of a bunt coming to the plate in the top 5th with nobody out and Gonzalez (single) and Crispin (walk) on base. Both got into scoring position, after which Lonzo got another intentional walk to fill the bases. Suzuki flew out to shallow left, Maldo struck out, and nobody scored. (deep breath) Tim Duncan then mashed a leadoff jack in the bottom 5th, Two walks to Riario and Carlos Lara followed, and with two outs, Erwin grounded to Crispin, who threw to second base for some reason, and Waters dropped the ball, for some other reason. Bases loaded for the top of the order, and Chris Navarro grounded to Crispin again. This time he threw to first, and Maldo held on to strand the full set.

Salcido threw over 30 pitches in the fifth, and a good 20 more in the sixth, and was hit for in the top 7th with Gonzalez on first and one out. Glodowski singled, but Lonzo whiffed, however, Suzuki came through with a 2-out RBI single to left, tying the game and sparing Salcido the loss. Maldo couldn’t find it in his heart though to give him a win, striking out. Namesake Willie Maldonado got the ball for the bottom 7th, got through it, and then resumed pitching in the bottom of the eighth, trying to coax a lefty pinch-hitter out of the Condors to make a switch. The ploy didn’t work. He walked Mittleider, then got taken deep by Duncan. Snyder then picked up the pieces, and Dusty Gaddy’s 1-2-3 ninth put the Coons away for good. 3-1 Condors. Glodowski (PH) 1-2; Salcido 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K;

Now tied for last in runs scored – with the Baybirds of all teams.

Game 3
POR: SS Lavorano – CF Suzuki – LF Crum – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Van Hoy – 3B Sivertson – C Jimenez – P Wolinsky
TIJ: SS C. Navarro – RF Blackburn – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – CF G. Cabrera – 1B Whitehurst – 2B D. Diaz – 3B A. Lopez – P Colwell

It didn’t look like Bubba was taking well to that mostly lefty lineup; the Condors hit three straight 2-out singles off him in the first, with Mittleider being thrown out at home on Cabrera’s single to end the inning without a score. The Coons would then score first, Puckeridge leading off the second with a triple to right and coming in on Evan Van Hoy’s groundout. But after Crum and Pucks reached scoring position with a double steal in the fourth, Van Hoy was rung up for the second out. Sivertson worked a walk to fill them up for defensive catcher Juan Jimenez, who grounded out all too easily to Danny Diaz.

The 1-0 lead didn’t hold up for much longer, but aggravatingly Bubba blew it against the bottom of the order, putting both Diaz and left-handed batter Alex Lopez on base. They were bunted over and while Navarro popped out, Blackburn singled to left. Diaz scored to tie it, and Lopez was thrown out by Crum trying to take a lead, ending the fifth inning. Mitch Sivertson to the rescue – with Waters (walk) and Van Hoy (single) on base, the backup infielder slashed a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run single to left-center to give Wolinsky a new 3-1 lead. Jimenez also singled, allowing us to clear the pitcher’s spot with Bubba flying out to left.

But the Condors appeared to be zeroing in on Bubba. They lined out three times in the sixth inning, and in the seventh Lopez zinged a double and scored on a 2-out single by Navarro, 3-2, which ended the outing by Wolinsky. Hitchcock retired Blackburn to escape the inning, getting a groundout to Sivertson, who then singled home Puckeridge again in the eighth inning with a single to center, 4-2. When Jimenez also singled again, Hitchcock was retained to bunt, doing so successfully, but Lonzo grounded out to short to end the attempt. And then Mittleider clobbered a leadoff jack in the bottom 8th to right away get us back to a 1-run lead. Hitchcock retired the next three, however, and the 2-3-4 didn’t put an insurance run together either in the road half of the ninth inning. At least Willie Cruz went 1-2-3 on the Condors, finishing it up with a K on pinch-hitter Dustin Ransford. 4-3 Raccoons. Crum 3-5, 2B; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, 3B; Sivertson 2-3, 3 RBI; Jimenez 2-4; Wolinsky 6.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (2-2);

In other news

April 13 – SAL CL Josh Rella (0-1, 4.91 ERA, 2 SV) puts away his 300th career save in an 11-8 win over the Stars. Rella, 36-35 with a 3.36 ERA for his career, was in his 11th major league season.
April 14 – ATL SP Kodai Koga (2-0, 0.35 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout against the Aces for a 6-0 win.
April 14 – Loggers 3B/2B Nick Jackson (.364, 0 HR, 1 RBI) would miss the rest of the season with a busted kneecap.
April 14 – The Gold Sox would be without LF/CF Sandy Castillo (.265, 0 HR, 5 RBI) for at least three weeks. The 30-year-old was out with a torn ankle ligament.
April 14 – TIJ OF/1B/3B Gil Cabrera (.444, 0 HR, 2 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak originating in 2050 following a first-inning single in a 7-5 win over the Bayhawks.
April 15 – The hitting streak of Tijuana’s Gil Cabrera (.408, 0 HR, 2 RBI) is the second of the year to end before reaching 21 games. Him and the rest of the team are held cold in a 6-2 loss to the Bayhawks.

April 16 – On a Sunday with three 1-0 games, the one in which the Thunder beat the Falcons stands out, for it takes *19* innings until Thunder outfielder Mike Allen (.182, 2 HR, 4 RBI) ends everybody’s misery with a walkoff home run off Falcons swingman Alfonso Jewel (1-1, 2.57 ERA).
April 18 – The Blue Sox’ 1B Alejandro Ramos (.300, 3 HR, 17 RBI) drives in eight runs in a losing effort as the Blue Sox blow a lead in the ninth and fall to the Cyclones, 14-13.
April 19 – NAS SP Luke Moses (2-0, 0.89 ERA) is out for the year with a torn UCL.
April 21 – The Canadiens trade outfielder Tyler Tomasello (0-for-10, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to the Miners for MR Lazaro Ochoa (0-2, 20.77 ERA) and a prospect on nobody’s wishlist.
April 22 – VAN SP Bill McMichael (2-0, 3.78 ERA) is out for the year to fix a stretched elbow ligament.
April 23 – CHA SP Chris Jones (1-2, 2.28 ERA) 3-hits the Crusaders for a skinny 1-0 shutout win.
April 23 – The Wolves blow a 5-run lead in the ninth inning, then play a full ten innings more with the Miners without anybody scoring. Pittsburgh actually scored six in the top 9th, but the game was extended by SAL C Jose Ortiz (.254, 3 HR, 5 RBI) with a solo homer. It also ends with a Jose Ortiz solo homer in the 20th inning for a 10-9 Wolves win. Ortiz comes to the plate ten times in the game, and is retired every time except for the two home runs.

FL Player of the Week (2): TOP 2B/SS Tony Aparicio (.429, 2 HR, 5 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 1 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): TIJ C/1B Jon Mittleider (.385, 2 HR, 10 RBI), hitting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): CIN INF Juan Ojeda (.446, 0 HR, 14 RBI), batting .560 (14-25) with 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): OCT SS/LF/1B Ryan Cox (.314, 4 HR, 12 RBI), swatting .429 (12-28) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We have now reached bottoms in runs scored in the league, with only 63 runs from 18 games, 3.5 per game precisely. That is of course… not exactly a delight. We don’t walk (we never do) but we also don’t hit (we sometimes do). The pitching is really keeping this team together so far, despite Danny Hall being a giant black hole for confidence right now.

At least Brobeck looks like he might actually stick here. But Hall? Miles is an option. In AAA, of course everybody’s waiting for Rafael de la Cruz, but he was still coming to terms with AAA hitting.

And why is Lonzo stuck on three stolen bases? First, he had a *really* bad week. Second, he’s been thrown out four straight times trying.

Third base and catching are offensive black holes so far, and Ed Crispin with SIX errors in three weeks also isn’t gaining any popularity with management.

Nevertheless, the road trip continues through Atlanta and Milwaukee.

Fun Fact: Ken Crum leads the batting race in the CL by one skinny point.

I guess, “it’s early” has never been a more apt remark. He hit .318 once. And that was 40 points above his second-best season.